MALAWI ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY

PROGRAMME: BACHELORS OF ARTS IN EDUCATION (BAE)

SUBJECT: LINGUISTICS

YEAR/ LEVEL OF STUDY: YEAR TWO/ SEMISTER TWO

COURSE TITLE: SOCIOLINGUISTICS

PRESENTED TO: LECTURER MEMORY CHIPETA

PRESENTED BY: LENNSON C. CHIKOMO

STUDENT ID NUMBER: 22012100008

QUESTION: How language change is influenced by gender and social status.

SUBMISSION DATE: 1st JULY, 2022

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HOW LANGUAGE CHANGE IS INFLUENCED BY GENDER AND SOCIAL STATUS

Language is defined by Robin, R et al. (2021) as “the expression of ideas by means of speech-
sounds combined into words.” Words are combined into sentences, this combination answering
to that of ideas into thoughts. They based this definition from Henry Sweet work. Language is
what makes us human. It is how people communicate. By learning a language, it means a person
has mastered the way a particular language is transmitted. Language changes based on a number
of factors like social status, gender as well as interactions. This paper is critically looking on how
language change is influenced by gender and social status.

Gender is defined as the feelings, values, and attitudes that attribute to one’s biological sex by
cultural aspects. Eckert, P. & McConnell-Ginet, S. (2003). Means gender is different from sex
which is biologically categorized. West, C and Zimmerman, D. (1987) argued that gender is not
something we are born with, and not something we have, but something we do. Gender plays a
great role in language. According to Wahyuningsih, S. (2018), men and women have different
ways in using a language. These differences could arise from the structure, form, vocabulary as
well as syntax. Wardhaugh (2006) highlighted that men and women develop different
patterns of using language, women usually focus on the affective functions of an
interaction more often than men do, He added that women tend to use linguistic devices that
stress solidarity more often than men do, women usually communicate in some ways
which will maintain and increase solidarity while mend tend to communicate in some
ways which will focus on the power and status and women are stylistically more flexible
than men. Looking at how women use language in comparison to men, one can argue that
women are fond of using language in the context of emotional relationships with others, while
men are more likely to use language to describe objects and events. For example a husband and a
wife can participate in an event involving different couples. By the end of the event a wife can
have information about different people present there like family background, relationships as
well as their children’s achievements. On the other hand the husband can go home with a report
of how different businesses are faring due to the 25% devaluation of the kwacha as well as how
teams are faring in the national league and foreign leagues.

Still on the way language is influenced by gender is on Phonological differences between the
speech of men and women. The study by Shuy shows that, more men found it difficult to

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pronounce other words correctly. In his study he presented 62.2% of men pronounced “-ing” in a
wrong way, but only 28.9% of women pronounce it wrongly. This is according to Shuy, D.
(1969). Going by this study one can conclude that women are good in pronunciation than men as
this can also be the same with how men and women pronounce other words than the one which
was in the study.

Apart from gender language change is also influenced by social status. Social status refers to the
honor or prestige attached to one's position in society. It may also refer to a rank or position that
one holds in a group, such as son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc. Drew, C. (2022) describes
social status as the level of prestige, privilege and honor someone is perceived to have in society.
Drew stated the following as examples of social status; profession, clothing, affiliation to
schools, political affiliation and others which he said they contribute to one’s overall social
status. Social status can be looked at from different levels which include; high status, middle
status and lower status. Social Class, Language and Dialect. (2022) stated that the upper class
people who usually belong to a royal/wealthy family are more likely well-educated because of
their large amount of financial income and all the facilities they have. This group of people is
associated with standard language. The good example from Malawi setting can be children from
rich families who do their education in expensive learning institutions are good in English
language as they have a good command of spoken English language. This is due to being
exposed to good learning environment where any communications are done in English. They
also become fluency in English because even at home they are to communicate in English with
their parents. The reason being that their parents are well-educated people therefore the flow of
the language is smooth in the house. In other families they even employ maids who can have a
command in spoken English so that they can always communicate with the children in English.
Such children differ with their friends in the way they articulate some English words.

Then there is a medium social class. Social Class, Language and Dialect. (2022), argued that
people coming from the middle social class are more likely to speak standard dialect and learn
how to use standard dialect than non-standard dialect because of their wish to be in the upper
class. He further stated that the middle class people’s financial background is usually stability
and they have a standard amount of financial income. So, a lot of people in the middle class are
able to go to school and learn how to use a standard language dialect. But they have some
difficulties in going to the best education institution because of the expensive price. These people

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from middle social class are also better in language attainment mainly in learning and using a
new language as they always look at emulating those from the upper class. This class of people is
normally found in cities and towns therefore they also have an advantage of attending good
schools that sharpen their language attainment. The change of language is seen in the way they
converse as they are characterized with code switching.

Then there are people in the low social class. Language and Dialect. (2022), describes these
people as the ones who have a low education background, low in financial income, and
sometimes homeless. They usually don’t go to school because of their financial issues. That’s
why people that belong to low social class often speak/use non-standard dialects. On language
change people from low status are characterized by vernacular language and when they speak
English, their fluency leaves a lot to be desired. The good example is children from rural areas
who find it difficult to learn English. They sometimes reach their last year of secondary school
still failing to construct a correct sentence in English.

In conclusion, basing on the above explanations it is clear that language change is really
influenced by gender as well as social status of a person in the society.

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REFERENCES

Robins, R. et al (2021). Language. Encyclopedia Britannica

https://www.britannica.com/topic/language

Eckert, P., & McConnell-Ginet, S. (2003). Language and Gender. Cambridge, UK; New York:
Cambridge University Press.

West, C and Zimmerman, D. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender and Society, 1:125–151.

Wahyuningsih, S. (2018) Men and women differences in using language: A case study of
students at Stain Kudus Edu. Lite: Journal of English Education, Literature and Culture

Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics (Fifth Edition).

Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Wardhaugh, R. (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics (5th Ed.). Malden: Blackwell
Publishing.

Shuy, D. (1969). A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication. London: Routledge

Drew, Chris. (2022) Social Status examples. Retrieved from

https://www.helpfulprofessor.com/social-status-examples

Social Class, Language and Dialect. (2022). Edubirdie. Retrieved July 3, 2022, from
https://edubirdie.com/examples/social-class-language-and-dialect

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